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No Foreign Oil by 2020

For 25 years American soldiers have sacrificed their lives to buy America time to end Federally mandated foreign oil dependence.

Failing to end America’s addiction to foreign oil for 25 years is a disgrace to West Point, the US military, the Federal government, and the nation as a whole.

Continuing to do nothing to end America’s foreign oil dependency is a disgrace that meets one of the Constitution’s definition of treason, "adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”

Following is a simple but rigorous plan for ending America’s dependence on foreign oil by 2020.

No Foreign Oil by 2020:

The US military and Federal government need to exercise the self-discipline to lead the nation in becoming energy self-reliant and defeat terrorism by defund it. The Memorial Day Tax to Defund Terrorism is rigorous and simple:

Each Memorial Day increase the tax on foreign oil $30 a barrel until the sacrifice ofsoldiers has been honored by restoring American energy self-reliance. Apply this revenue to pay-off the national debt caused by oil-wars since 1991 to protect access to that foreign oil. Debt is the tax on future labor. These war debts are a tax on the future labor of children imposed without their consent, Taxation without Representation. "The earth belongs to the living".

The US military cuts it use of oil to within domestic resources by Memorial Day 2016, a 45% cut in oil use. The military has the leadership skills to lead the effort to defund terrorism and honor the sacrifice of soldiers.

The Federal government cuts its use of oil to within domestic resources by 2017.

State governments cut their use of oil 45% by 2018.

The nation cuts its use of oil 45% by 2020.

There is a difference between “cannot” and “will not.”

The typical American uses 88.5 megaWatt-Hours of energy per year. Cutting all energy use 45% would put the average American at 48.7 megaWatt-Hours, or roughly the same as the 47.2 megaWatt-Hours used by the average German. Americans would save $300-$500 billion a year in foreign oil costs. Defunding our enemies may also make it possible for Defense spending to be cut $300 billion. Alternative transportation networks and making cities walkable and bikeable may also cut accidents in half, saving $400 billion per year.

There will be sacrifices. To mitigate these in the general economy, the military needs to lead by example. The military does not need to generate a profit and defeating terrorism by starving terrorists of oil-dollars should be a primary mission. Eight Presidents have declared foreign oil an enemy.

Treason:

Eight Presidents declared foreign oil an enemy. The validity of their call to action can be measured in war dead since the First Gulf War and the 9/11 terrorist attack. While eight Presidents have identified foreign oil as an enemy, Federal politicians with the consent of those eight presidents have voted to tax the American people to expand oil-powered infrastructure, causing oil imports to increase from 20% to 50% of consumption. Actively increasing the demand for foreign oil, which in turn provides oil dollars to sponsors of terrorism, whose oil dollars are actively funding the deaths of American soldiers, fulfills the Constitution’s Article 3, Section 3 definition for treason: "adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”

Perpetual Oil-Wars

With The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 the path to oil addiction and perpetual oil-wars was made formal US Federal policy, as Admiral Rickover noted in 1957:

What assurance do we then have that our energy needs will continue to be supplied by fossil fuels: The answer is - in the long run - none.

The earth is finite. Fossil fuels are not renewable. In this respect our energy base differs from that of all earlier civilizations. They could have maintained their energy supply by careful cultivation. We cannot. Fuel that has been burned is gone forever. Fuel is even more evanescent than metals. Metals, too, are non-renewable resources threatened with ultimate extinction, but something can be salvaged from scrap. Fuel leaves no scrap and there is nothing man can do to rebuild exhausted fossil fuel reserves. They were created by solar energy 500 million years ago and took eons to grow to their present volume.

In the face of the basic fact that fossil fuel reserves are finite, the exact length of time these reserves will last is important in only one respect: the longer they last, the more time do we have, to invent ways of living off renewable or substitute energy sources and to adjust our economy to the vast changes which we can expect from such a shift.

Fossil fuels resemble capital in the bank. A prudent and responsible parent will use his capital sparingly in order to pass on to his children as much as possible of his inheritance. A selfish and irresponsible parent will squander it in riotous living and care not one whit how his offspring will fare.

Federal politicians, the military, and we, as Americans, have exhibited so little caring, that we sacrifice soldiers by doing nothing to end foreign oil dependence. We have exhibited little caring by borrowing $18 trillion against the future labor of children to fund oil-wars and buy foreign oil.

The finite nature of oil and the treason of Federal expansion of foreign oil dependence were well understood when The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956 bound the survival of America to oil. In 1956 Dr. Hubbert correctly estimated that US Peak Oil, the maximum rate at which oil could be economically extracted in the US would peak in about 1970 (link to US government chart of US oil production).

Oil-wars since 1991 will continue as the Joint Forces Command warned all US military commands in 2010:

By 2012, surplus oil production capacity could entirely disappear, and as early as 2015, the shortfall in output could reach nearly 10 million barrels per day.

A severe energy crunch is inevitable without a massive expansion of production and refining capacity. While it is difficult to predict precisely what economic, political, and strategic effects such a shortfall might produce, it surely would reduce the prospects for growth in both the developing and developed worlds. Such an economic slowdown would exacerbate other unresolved tensions, push fragile and failing states further down the path toward collapse, and perhaps have serious economic impact on both China and India. At best, it would lead to periods of harsh economic adjustment. To what extent conservation measures, investments in alternative energy production, and efforts to expand petroleum production from tar sands and shale would mitigate such a period of adjustment is difficult to predict. One should not forget that the Great Depression spawned a number of totalitarian regimes that sought economic prosperity for their nations by ruthless conquest.

Energy production and distribution infrastructure must see significant new investment if energy demand is to be satisfied at a cost compatible with economic growth and prosperity.

The discovery rate for new petroleum and gas fields over the past two decades (with the possible exception of Brazil) provides little reason for optimism that future efforts will find major new fields.

Dependence on Illicit Energy, slave energy, was the path to the Civil War.

Dependence on Illicit Energy, foreign oil funded by debt, established the path to war since 1956, perpetual oil-wars since 1991, and the path to even wider wars. The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner explains how gradual efforts to end Federally supported slavery failed. Dependence of foreign oil presents the same choice Americans faced with slavery as the path to the Civil War unfolded. There is no gradual solution; we are either self-disciplined to be self-reliant or we build the path to war.

The true options for ending slavery were:

Immediate emancipation of slaves, or

Long bloody domestic war followed by immediate emancipation of slaves.

The true options for ending dependence on foreign oil are:

Aggressively end dependence on foreign oil by 2020, with punitive tax increases on foreign oil, if our deeds fail to honor our dead, or

Long bloody domestic and foreign war as debt capsizes our access to foreign oil and oil dollars fund enemies to attack America.

It was tough to end slavery in 4 years. It will be tough to end foreign oil addition in 4 years. Dependence on foreign oil will end by 2020 by the determined action of Americans choosing energy self-reliance, or by social collapse into wider wars.